 From Compliance to Good: The 20 Minutes
a message from Superintendent Dr. Curtis Jones
The school calendar for next year is set and our students are going to receive one hundred-eighty (180) days of instruction...real days, not equivalent days. As you know, we added the 20 minutes to the school day because of budget cuts. The board of education made some tough decisions to reduce our costs so that we could get back to a full student year.
So you are asking the question "what about those 20 minutes?" I asked the same question a few months ago of principals and my advisory council. Since that time, I have heard from the principals, the advisory council, the board members and you. My current thinking is the 20 minutes should stay. The logical follow-up question to ask is why? If the reason for adding the 20 minutes was the reduced length of the student school year and that reason is no longer valid, then what has changed?
My answer is three things have changed:
Change one is Increased Learning Time (ILT). We learned after the school year started that we were required to implement ILT this school year because we have two schools (Griffin High and Cowan Middle) that are using the transformational model as a part of their school improvement efforts.
What is ILT? According to the federal government, "Increased learning time means increasing the length of the school day, week, or year to significantly increase the total number of school hours..." Additionally, "... to fully implement the turnaround or transformational model, a (school district)... must use a longer school day, week, or year to provide additional time...." For Georgia, 300 hours of ILT is required. Of these 300 hours, 60 hours are required for ILT for students during the school year. This is the equivalent of adding 20 minutes to each day for a 180 day school year. So GSCS is required to implement ILT this year and for the next two years. This is a change from what we knew last year during our budget discussions.
Some will say, "Let Griffin High and Cowan Middle do ILT. Why do we have to add 20 minutes?" The answer is what started us on this road - costs. The cost of adding buses just so those two schools could have a different bus schedule is prohibitive. So to comply with the federal mandate, we are required to add 20 minutes for ILT.
Change two is student learning. I have talked with some teachers and principals about how they used the additional 20 minutes with students this year. The responses have been different at each school and each level (elementary, middle, and high). But when I ask the next question, "Where do you think your students would be this year if you had not had the extra 20 minutes with them every day?" the answers have been fairly consistent. And in most cases, the answers have been "not as far along as they are now." This did not surprise me. We know that the more time a teacher spends with students the more they learn. In general, elementary schools found the extra 20 minutes to be most useful, high schools the least, and the middle schools were in the middle. The bottom-line: the extra 20 minutes increased student learning at the elementary level and somewhat at the middle school level, in ways that will positively impact us for years to come.
Change three is us. We have changed. Or it may be more correct to say that I recognized that we have changed. We are no longer just trying to comply with requirements but trying to do better. Let me explain this with a few examples. One example is the emergency action drill we conducted this week. We were not required to conduct this drill, we chose to participate. To comply with state requirements all we need to do is a monthly fire drill and an annual tornado drill. But GSCS has done more in the recent past and this week's drill was the latest example. Another example is our relationship with Partners-in-Education. In the past we just wanted partners but in the recent past we changed our relationship with them so that we now know how the partnership will help meet the goals in our school improvement plans. This is different, and better for us and the partners. The third example is how you analyze data. The ubiquitous use of Performance Matters to analyze data is amazing to me. You analyze data as well as anyone and you are well beyond compliance. The last example is how you have supported Relay for Life. Need I say anymore about this one? All of this indicated to me why many of our schools stopped worrying about making AYP and began focusing on setting targets that were above AYP. Somewhere along the way we stopped being about compliance and started being about being good. Daring to be better.
Those are the three changes that have occurred since last spring. Taken together, it may seem that we would never go back to a regular school day. You see, adding 20 minutes to the day is the equivalent of adding half a month to the school year. Can we ever go back? I think so and here is when and how. When none of our schools are required to implement ILT, I think we can honestly say to ourselves, it is time to consider changing the schedule.
I know this is not what some of you wanted to hear (read). I make no apologies. In my opinion, this is what is best for students. For now, we can agree to disagree, and I look forward to being with you at the end of April/early May, to discuss this and other issues, we I meet with youjust as I did last year when we discussed the budget reductions.
Respectfully,
Curtis
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District Climate Survey for Staff
The district climate survey is now open and can be accessed here. We have asked for work location to see where we need to improve our central communication efforts. Questions are only about the district as a whole. Thank you for participating. |
Board Briefs
At its regular meetings on March 26, and April 2, the board of education. . . . - Approved student school lunch prices for 2014-15 school year. Full-priced meals will be breakfast $1.25, elementary lunch $2.25 and secondary lunch $2.50.
- Approved personnel reports
- Approved a class size waiver resolution to be submitted to the State Board of Education so the school system can better use existing funds and resources.
- Agreed to the rental of Memorial Stadium to Christian Ministries Volunteer organization for the Iris City Classic on September 21, 2013 pending certain stipulations.
- Approved Track improvements at both high schools and re-roofing of the Taylor Street campus.
- Approved Virtual School for up to 100 students
- Approved 2014-15 Student Agendas including Character Ed lessons
- Approved Griffin High's request for one FTE teacher reduction.
- Approved Faith Christian Academy property lease of the old Flynt Middle School for one year
- Adopted the federal grant budgets.
Heard presentations on: - 2013 Writing Assessments and the associated middle school improvement plans
- Seventy-two percent of students completing the 2013 Eighth Grade Assessment met and/or exceeded standards.
- The state results on the assessment revealed 82% of all 8th grade students met and/or exceeded standards on the 2013 administration of the writing assessment.
- Students continue to struggle with two of the four domains-ideas and conventions..
- Partners in Education, Character Education, Mission & Vision, Mentoring, and Internet Safety.
Received points of information on: - February Financial Report.
- April 2 crisis drill
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In other business the board recognized. . .
- FIRST Tech Challenge State Competition participants from Griffin High School.
- SkillsUSA Region winners.
- HOSA Leadership Conference winners and state reporter.
- Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition system-level winners.
- USTA training workshop participants.
- High Flying School Award to Moore Elementary from the Youth At Risk conference.
- Teacher Scholarship Program recipients.
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In other business the board recognized. . .
- FIRST Tech Challenge State Competition participants from Griffin High School.
- SkillsUSA Region winners.
- HOSA Leadership Conference winners and state reporter.
- Young Georgia authors Writing Competition system-level winners.
- USTA training workshop participants.
- High Flying School Award to Moore Elementary from the Youth At Risk.
- Teacher Scholarship Program recipients.
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| | | Griffin High School hosted Robert Ahdoot as in-house guest teacher on April 2. Mr. Ahdoot guest teaches around the world in the area of mathematics. Visit his website at www.yaymath.org.
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Three Teacher Certification Scholarships Awarded
The Griffin-Spalding County School System is pleased to announce the recipients of three scholarships for professional development offered to paraprofessionals or other classified employees in our system. The 2012-2013 winners are:
Dimitra Collier, Paraprofessional, Moore Elementary School
Maury Leach, Paraprofessional, Kennedy Road Middle School
Johnny Teemer, Paraprofessional, Kennedy Road Middle School
The scholarships provide $1000 per recipient toward teacher certification. Those GSCS employees eligible for consideration include: paraprofessionals, bus drivers, secretaries and other classified employees who are pursuing teacher preparation in an approved Georgia college or university program.
The recipients are required to remain in good academic standing throughout the term of scholarship by maintaining passing grades with a 2.5 or higher grade point average. They also must agree, upon completion of certification, to teach in a Griffin-Spalding public school if offered a position; refusal would require repayment of the scholarship.
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Employees of the Month
~Elementary~
Atkinson Vetrece Jefferson
Atkinson Elementary School would like to recognize Mrs.Vetrece Jefferson as the Employee of the Month. Recently, she published an article in the March 2013 issue of Teaching Children Mathematics, the leading practitioner journal for teachers of elementary mathematics. We are proud of her accomplishment and would like to encourage her to continue to share her knowledge with her fellow educators.
Beaverbrook Hugh Cole Hugh Cole is our employee of the month. He is always ready and willing to help when needed. Cowan Road
Valarie Gilbert
Loyal, caring and dedicated to all students. Willing to give up lunch or planning whenever her students need her attention. To Val, Special Education only means you learn it differently. Her expectations- we all work hard and learn every second of the day. No excuses! Crescent Road
Cafeteria Staff Ms. Sherrie, Ms. Evie, Ms. Penny, and Ms. Mary
Our cafeteria staff recently received a perfect score on their last inspection. Our ladies ALWAYS support EVERYTHING we do at Crescent. Not only do they serve our lunches with a smile, they also show care and concern for our students each and every day. We LOVE our cafeteria ladies!!
Futral Road
Christy Fuller
Futral Road's Employee of the Month is our nurse, Christy Fuller. Ms. Fuller is always available to help our students in need. She provides quick and effective care for our students and does so with great professionalism and compassion. Ms. Fuller is also willing to help out with non-medical tasks as well. Ms Fuller is an integral part of our school and its success.
Jackson Road
Allison Buntyn
The employee of the month for Jackson Road is Allison Buntyn, Music Teacher, for her dedication to making sure our students receive exposure to music and the arts. She has filled our halls with music during "Music in our Schools" month, reaching out to the community and inviting many visitors to play a variety of instruments for our students. She also plans musical programs for each PTO meeting, as well as an annual variety show to showcase the talents of our students. Her passion for music is contagious, and we feel fortunate to have her as a JRE team member!
Jordan Hill
Amy Slagle
2nd grade
Mrs. Slagle works hard to provide a rich learning environment; she incorporates creativity and technology to challenge her students; she also does a great job with Spirit Squad.
Moore
Ashley Reid
Please join me in recognizing Ashley Reid for sharing her technology skills with her colleagues and parents of Moore Elementary. Over the pass two months, Ms. Reid has presented workshops on how to effectively use iPads in the classroom and a workshop for parents on how to use technology to help enhance their child's learning. Her enthusiasm for technology and non-threatening demeanor has helped others move out of their comfort zone and explore new things. In addition, Ms. Reid has volunteered to serve as our new Webmaster and has created our new web page. Thank you, Ms. Reid, for being "Committed to the Core."
Moreland Road
Judy Engel
Katrina Boggs
Nurse Judy Engel: Wonderful nurse and stays on top of policies, records, immunizations, etc.
Mrs. Boggs has been a custodian with us since Moreland Road opened. She does an excellent job and is always willing to help out and do extra when needed.
Thanks to both of these ladies for all they do for Moreland Road!
Orrs Ivis Roquemore
We would like to recognize Mrs. Ivis Roquemore for the outstanding job she does everyday with our ELL students. She recently worked tirelessly to administer testing to those students and she helped to make the SACS Review for the ESOL Program a success. She is always eager to work with our teachers to communicate with their ELL parents and helps supports the vision of ORRS Elementary School. Thank you, Mrs. Roquemore, for all you do for ORRS.
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HR Note
A note from HR
Please remember that both parts of the Wellness Promise (the Health Assessment and the screenings) must be completed by June 30, 2013, to be eligible to enroll in a wellness plan option for 2014.
Screenings are considered preventive care and are covered 100% at no cost to you. Please remind your physician to use a preventive care code when submitting the bill so there is no charge.
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Don't Forget!
Spring Break
April 22-26, 2013
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Summer Reading Lists
Please share your summer reading lists with us to post on the district website. Email your list to judy.parker@gscs.org
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